The Music of Our Hearts
by NerdyOtaku101
Summary: This story begins with the meeting of Soul and Maka before the start of the main series and continues up until the beginning. It focuses on the two, Maka and Soul and includes other characters such as: Wes Evans, Black Star, Tsubaki and many of the other Soul Eater characters and their time as they join Shibusen and get used to the struggles that it brings.
1. Chapter 1: Soul Eater Evans

**Chapter One:**

Soul leant back in his armchair, his arms folded. These days his hair was shorter, more neatly kept and brushed thanks to Maka's continuous bickering. He wore a proper uniform for his teaching job at Shibusen and he was never seen without the gold ring on his finger suggesting his marriage. He looked up in thought, reminiscing the times when he first came to Shibusen and the events that unfolded around that, including his meeting with Maka Albarn, now Maka Evans.

Fourteen years ago:

"Oi, Soul!" A man's voice called out making soul sharply snap away.  
"Huh?!"

"You were sleeping." The man said as he walked over, his arms folded crossly. He had a stern voice and had similar white hair to Soul, although he kept it much more tidy than Soul's unmanageable hair.

"Sorry Wes... I hardly got any sleep last night... I've been having weird dreams." Soul replied, rubbing his forehead, his eyes only half open.

Wes, Soul's older brother thwacked him over the head with his violin bow; "You can't sleep during practice. How do you plan on becoming a master musician if you can't even stay awake?"

Soul simply shrugged and yawned widely, too tired to even reply although Wes didn't move, still waiting on his reply.

"Urgh, fine. Sorry." He frowned, looking down at his lap before repositioning himself on the piano stool. _Like I'll ever be as good as you anyway..._

Wes sighed, pushing his hair back before positioning his violin under his chin, "Whatever... Just don't do it again. From the top." He instructed before beginning to playing a beautiful sympathy in harmony with Soul, who despite still being half asleep, was managing to play accordingly.

"We have that... That..." Soul failed to think of the word in his mind while in his dazed stupor, "That..." He yawned.

"That social event at Shibusen you mean?" Wes replied with a calmer tone as he continued playing.

"Yeah, that."

"Yeah, it's tonight, so we can't have you falling asleep in the last practice." He growled slightly as he said it.

Soul didn't reply, quickly putting his focus on the music.

Wes sighed, stopping mid note, "They love your music you know?"

"Yeah... I suppose." He said half-heartedly with a sigh.

"They do." Wes urged.

"Probably cause you're playing the lead." He murmured almost sightly.

"What was that?" Wes asked, holding his hand to his ear, still holding his bow.

"Nothing."

"Right then, shut up and keep playing." Wes chuckled with a tone of brother humour.

Within the next few hours after practice, the two had eventually gotten themselves ready and headed out to the party, walking up the large staircase out the front of the massive school.

"Whose idea was it to make this many damn steps!" Soul almost shouts in his exhaustion.

"Its a good thing they have showers up there..." Wes chuckled, forcing a smile.

"I mean, it's not like Lord Death even uses them!" Soul continued with his rant, ignoring Wes. "Seriously, what's the point!?" He looked to Wes for an answer but all he got was a laugh.

"What?" He growled in annoyance.

"You're nervous." He said with a smirk.

"I could die right now and I wouldn't mind.." Soul muttered rather grimly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the steps will kill you son." He joked, "But seriously, I'm sure something good will come from this." He said, giving him a reassuring tug on his shoulder.

 _Maybe for you... but this is one long guilt trip for me... I hate these events. People, people everywhere, applauding YOU for YOUR hard work..._

Soul glanced to Wes out the corner of his eye and jumped slightly when he realised that Wes was looking at him; "I know you don't like these events... or the people..." He started.

 _Were you reading my mind?_ Soul looked at him, slightly shocked.

"...But you gotta do this. It's something you're going to have to get over one day."

Soul looked down to his shoes as they continued ascending the stairs, "I know..." He adjusted his neck trap of a tie.

Wes smiled a bit, watching his younger brother as they reached the top of the staircase.

"Let's get freshened up, we're on in about half an hour or so." Wes smiled as he entered the school, Soul slowly following after him.

 _I hate this. I hate this so much._


	2. Chapter 2: The Meeting

**Music of Our Hearts: Chapter 2:**

Soul sighed heavily, rubbing his head which only messed up his hair even further. He felt much better now that he was washed and cleaned after walking up that tremendous staircase although it didn't do much to stifle his nerves as he waited at the piano for Wes to return.

People were already appearing in the grand hall, glancing at him from time to time as they wondered if he was going to start playing. Their attention was only making him wince as though their gaze burned straight into him.

His attention however was taken to a small commotion on the other side of the hall. From what Soul could see, a man seemed to be harassing a young girl, their conversation was inaudible but eventually the man left, looking depressed.

Soul chuckled to himself, _You go girl. Don't let those jerks take you for granted._

He noticed Wes as he walked over to him. "Ready to go? We'll be performing as soon as Lord Death introduces us." He said with a certain eagerness that Soul couldn't understand however it seemed to fade slightly when he saw how distasteful of it Soul was. "Don't chuck." He said with a chuckle as he noticed that he was looking rather green.

"Not helping.." Soul muttered quietly.

Wes opened his mouth to say something but Lord Death cut him off as he started his speech.

He stood at the front centre of the stage, his comical hands extended in welcome. "Welcome~ Welcome~ I'm glad that you could all come out tonight on this occasion like every few months. We have a special treat tonight from the Evans brother, Wes and Soul.

Wes and Soul bowed to the audience as they were introduced to the crowd of people who watched eagerly.

Lord Death moved to the side of the stage, watching the two as they began getting into position, Soul sitting at the piano with his fingers resting on the keys lightly and Wes propped his violin onto his shoulder, resting his chin on the rest. Every bone in Soul's body screamed out failure but he pushed it away, he wouldn't let Wes beat him, and if he does... He was just going to have to get better.

With determination, he began playing an intro and Wes began accompanying, creating a lovely harmony between the two. Soul's shoulders tensed but he forced himself to relax as he knew he wouldn't be able to do his best if he were stressed.

 _You can do it... You can do it.._ He urged himself, _Keep it up, you're doing good..._

After a few minutes which seemed to drag on for an eternity to Soul, the piece was completed and the applause from the crowd was deafening which made pride well him inside of him.

He took a few deep breathes, feeling rather giddy as Wes chuckled, patting his shoulder. "You did good." He said with a proud smile.

Lord Death nodded to them, "Excellent work you two. Soul, you've definitely been practising." He complimented before turning to the crowd. "With that, please enjoy the rest of the evening."

Wes gave his shoulder another tug before walking away to a group of people talking, leaving Soul at his place at the piano, too stunned to even move. He doubted that his legs would hold him right now anyway. Despite how the crowd applauded... He still felt doubt creeping up on his abilities...

"Hello." A voice said behind him, pulling him from his thoughts. He spun on the stool, seeing the girl from before who was being harassed by that old guy. She wore a black dress, and her blonde hair was done up in two pigtails at the sides. "You did a good job." She beamed at him.

Soul felt his face heat up a little, unsure how to react to the compliment. "Th-Thanks..."

She held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Maka Albarn." She said, still beaming.

"Soul...Evans." He replied, shaking her hand. He smiled, revealing his pointed teeth.

"So, are you a weapon or a meister?" She asked, holding her hands behind her back. She didn't seem to have any issue with casual conversation.

"Ah... Neither. I don't go to school here. Lord Death just asked that we perform for the party." He explained, rubbing the back of his neck."

Maka nodded to show she understood. "I see. Well I'm a meister although I don't have a weapon yet.. I just can't seem to find the right person." She said, giving an awkward chuckle.

Soul smirked slightly, "What about that red haired guy who was harassing you?"

Maka pouted and looked away, "Thats my father." She muttered dryly.

Soul nearly fell out of his seat, "That was your father? It totally looked like he was hitting on you! And isn't that Lord Death's Death Scythe or something?" He wasn't entirely sure how it all worked but he had heard rumours...

Maka sighed, "Yeah... and he's got issues."

"MAKA!?" A voice shouted out from the crowd making Maka's skin crawl as a shudder went up her spine.

"Hide me." She almost pleaded to Soul, glancing over her shoulder to see her father pushing through the crowd as he looked for her.

"He's that bad...?" Soul arched a brow, almost disblieving.

She nodded, "Mhm.."

He shook his head, standing up. "Damn..." He grabbed her hand and pulled her along the stage, and on the outskirts of the crowd to avoid her father however as they passed the buffee table something grabbed his attention and he circled back, "Sashimi..." He says almost dreamily, loading up a plate.

"Raw fish...?" Maka frowned distastefully.

"Yep." Soul had his load and continued walking.

"Gross..." Maka crinkled her nose, watching him a moment before walking after him onto one of the various balconies and Maka finally took a moment to relax, letting out a sigh of relief as she leant against the railing.

"What does that creep want?" Soul asked as he stuffed a piece of sashimi in his mouth.

"He wants to dance with me like we used to..." She muttered, shuddering at the thought.

"Why do you hate him so much? Must be recent.." He said, waving his fork, his mouth full.

"Cause he cheated on Mama... lots." She said spitefully, looking out over Death City.

Her answer almost made him drop his fork, "And he thinks he can still be okay with you?"

She nodded almost regretfully. "I wish I were with Mama but she travels a lot and I need to do my schooling here at Shibusen."

Soul nodded understandingly, "Hey, if it were my way, I would be happy to be your partner, unfortunately, I'm no weapon."

Maka glanced to him and smiled a bit, "Thanks, although... something tells me you might just be."

"Huh? How do you know?" Soul asked, almost shocked.

"Woman's intuition." She said with a smirk.


	3. Chapter 3: Discovery

**The Music of Our Hearts: Chapter Three:**

Soul blankly pressed the keys on the grand piano in the lounge room in his house. He had his elbow resting on the end, making a long droning sound as his chin sat dully in his hand. With his other hand he pressed keys slowly and randomly with a bored and nonchalant expression on his face.

Inspecting where the dull droning was coming from, Wes approached, "What... are you doing?" He asked, making Soul jump in surprise resulting in an accord of keys to be hit.

"Nothing. I was just thinking..."

"Could you think more quietly?" Wes asked with an exasperated sigh.

Soul nodded, spinning back to face the piano, setting his attention back to the keys.

Wes sensed something was up and walked over, leaning on he side of the piano. "You okay?"

"Yeah..." He murmured quietly.

"I don't believe you." Wes said, eyeing him sceptically.

"Its just..." Soul pressed another monotone key, words not really working for him right now.

Wes sighed once again, rubbing his neck. "What? You know, you haven't eaten for a while now... Are you sick?" He asked as he took a step back, worried for contagion.

"I'm not sick you idiot." Soul snapped then sighed, quickly looking back to his keys.

"Then what-? Oh.." He chuckled lightly as a smirk crossed his lips. "Its that cute little blonde, huh?"

Soul glared at him from the corner of his eyes, "Its got nothing to do with her." He growled.

"I saw you chatting her up till the end of the party... at three in the morning. You never talk to people and by then you're usually tugging my arm, begging to leave." He said, the smirk not fading from his expression.

Soul frowned, remaining silent as he continued pressing monotone keys.

"Stop doing that. It's an insult to music." Wes muttered, rubbing his ear.

Soul huffed, looking up in thought, "I though love was a good thing... Why do I feel so yuck?"

"Cause you're not with her." Wes said simply as if he were now an expert on the subject.

"And I don't think I ever can be. She goes to Shibusen, she's too busy with schooling. She hardly even talked about anything other than her grades." He muttered, pressing another key just as Wes slammed the piano lid down. He only just managed to pull his hands away before his fingers would've been crushed. He looked at Wes slightly shocked but soon returned to his depressed state rather quickly with yet another sigh.

"Maybe I should go to Shibusen... I couldn't be her partner... I need to be a weapon for that.. but at least we'd see each other." He murmured, folding his arms on the piano lid, lying his head on his arms.

"What about your music? All that you've learnt?" Wes asked, both stunned and offended.

"I would still practice." Soul shrugged, indifferent on the matter.

Wes frowned, he didn't believe that claim... He knew how easily distracted Soul was... It didn't help that Soul was avoiding his gaze. "Fine. Do what you want." He said harshly, leaving the room and Soul to his thoughts.

It was later that day in the cool afternoon that Soul had found himself pacing outside now. The halls and rooms of the house felt too confining for such intense pacing. "Come on... She said I might be a weapon... and judging by her grades, who could be more experienced?" He continued pacing, chewing his nail before stopping at a tree, kicking it. He remembered something that Maka had told him when he asked how weapons discover their ability... Lots of stress, tension... He was feeling stressed and tense... Very. She also mentioned visualising the weapon helped... He thought of guns, nope. Swords, nope. Knives, daggers, axes. Nope, nope nope. He groaned in frustration, this wasn't working for him. He remembered something however. Death Scythe... Maka's father. Scythes are weapons too. He closed his eyes and focused as hard as he could on the image of a scythe.

Nothing.

"Argh! I can't believe this! Who was I kidding? I'm not a weapon." He let out a frustrated shout and punched the tree as hard as he could however he found that his arm was now stuck. He opened his eyes and would've fallen over hadn't his arm, now a red and black blade weren't lodged tightly in the tree. "Gah!" He tried to yank it out but it wouldn't budge. "WES!" He shouted, panicking a bit. "WES!"

Wes exited the house, looking around for his brother. "Stop shouting! What-" The sight of him made him stop in his tracks, seeing his brother with a massive blade protruding his shoulder. "What the hell happened?" He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"I'm stuck!" Soul muttered, pushing against the tree with his foot before toppling over. He wondered what would've happened had his arm turned back to normal... He didn't want to think about that..

Wes ran over, "You're a... You're a weapon."

Soul laughed a bit as his arm returned to its normal state. "Yeah." He grinned, "I'm going to Shibusen."


	4. Chapter 4: Partnership

**The Music of Our Hearts: Chapter Four:**

Within the next forty-eight hours, a letter had been sent to the Evans' household from the DWMA requesting permission along with enrolment forms to enrol into Shibusen. It hadn't taken long at all for Lord Death to catch wind of the new presence of a weapon.

"I can't believe it...!" Soul said, holding the letter in both hands as he read it over and over. He wore an expression of pure joy and his hands trembled with nervousness... He looked to Wes who simply shrugged in reply, taking another sip of his coffee.

"Granny sure was please huh?" Soul said, trying to start a conversation with his brother who was obviously a little sour with him.

"Yup." He murmured over his coffee, hardly in a talkative mood.

Soul sighed, setting down the letter lightly. "I will practice you know... and write back home. A lot." He said although he didn't sound too sure... It was almost like he was trying to convince himself as well as Wes that he would do it.

Wes set down his coffee with a light sigh, "Sorry... You didn't choose to be a weapon.." He said, glancing to his brother.

"Yeah.." Soul looked down at his shoes. He felt great about being one... but at the same time he felt guilty that he would be leaving his family as well as his friends here... "Should we be going soon...?" He asked, looking to Wes who nodded, taking the last sip of his coffee, tilting the mug up high.

"Yeah. Let's go." He put the mug down in the sink and headed out, Soul following quietly behind him, picking up his bags.

They headed outside and Soul took a last look at his home. He wouldn't be able to come back for months at times... Only during the holidays would he be able to see his family. He followed Wes to the car, setting his bags in the boot before getting into the front seat and soon they were off.

Wes took Soul to the train station where they had their goodbye. Neither of them wanted it to be a long goodbye but it couldn't be helped. Wes made sure to stay until Soul was on the train and only left when the train was out of sight before he himself headed home with a feeling that the house was going to feel very empty...

Soul knocked on the door to Death Room inside of Shibusen. He rubbed his back, exhausted from the long walk up the front stairs out the front of the school and had already started thinking of ways to invent a pulley system to avoid that treacherous trek every single day...

The large pair of doors opened with a creak, revealing a large room, a mirror on the far end, blue painted walls with fluffy white clouds on it.. It messed with his head as he wasn't sure... but it seemed like the clouds were moving... There was a circular concrete platform and off that was sand, with wooden crosses sticking throughout it... He hadn't seen anything like it before...

On the centre of the platform stood the tall, familiar figure of Lord Death as he talked with a red haired man that Soul recognised as Death Scythe; Maka's father. Lord Death saw him and looked over, "Oh, Soul!" He always sounded over eager... "What a nice surprise that you will be joining our school. We only saw you a few weeks ago, and here you are again, a weapon." He said cheerily in his weird humorous voice as Soul walked over to the centre of the room.

"Oi..!" Death Scythe growled a bit, pointing at him, "You! You were that jerk that stole my Maka at that party!" He almost shouted, getting up in Soul's face, "What do you think you were doing taking her away from me?!"

Soul glared at him, leaning back slightly so that he wasn't so uncomfortably close. "What the hell are you talking about? I was just doing what she asked. She wanted to hide from you." He snapped back, his nervousness about this meeting quickly faded and turned into annoyance toward this man.

Soul's words however were like daggers that jabbed into him, making him step back in dismay. "So cruel..! Maka-chan is so cruel... Just like her mama..." He faded away in his sorrows to the other side of the room, sulking, sitting in a hunched position with his knees close to his chest with dark clouds looming over him despairingly.

Soul concluded this man had some serious issues...

Lord Death simply shook his head, "Spirit-kun is a pain..." He muttered and looked ot Soul, "Anyway... Because this is more or less the middle of the year, we don't normally accept any new students as it is often difficult to partner them up with someone, however, we had a student request permission that you join." He explained.

"Someone... requested me?" Soul asked, rather surprised to hear of that.

Lord Death nodded his confirmation. "Yes. Maka Albarn."

Death Scythe let out a strangled cry in reaction to hearing his daughter's name although Lord Death merely ignored him. "Word got around quickly that one of the Evans brothers were a weapon and well... Maka jumped straight to it and asked that you be enrolled."

"Why?" Soul asked with astonishment, hardly believing his luck that things would work out like this.

"She wanted to say.. "I told you so."...Or something." Lord Death tiled his head and shrugged his comical hands.

Soul wasn't able to tell if he was joking or not with how goofy he looked and acted and just stood there staring at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"...I'm not joking." He said as if able to tell what he was thinking based off his expression, staring at him blankly with his expressionless skull mask.

Soul nodded, "Right. Sorry.. Couldn't tell if you were.."

Lord Death continued to stare at him blankly. "This mask doesn't really have many expressions does it...?"

Soul shook his head, "Nope." He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his black and yellow hoodie.

A knock on the door broke their staring contest and they both looked over to see Maka walk in. Her hair was still in the same twin pigtails from the party although rather than that black dress she wore a long black coat with a yellow vest and white undershirt all underneath it as well as a red plaid skirt and buckled boots. Soul had to tear his attention off her as Lord Death greeted her.

"Hello Maka-chan." He said cheerily, making a peace sign with one of his oversized gloves.

"Hello Lord Death." She replied, just as cheery with the same peace sign.

Death Scythe practically leaped across the room in one bound, "MAKA!" He yelled as he attempted to give her a flying hug.

"Papa!?" She stepped back in surprise, "Why were you hiding in the shadows!?" She asked, horrified that her father was here.

Soul stepped between the two, catching the crazed man's death grip of a hug. "Oi, grandpa, get off me you creep." Soul hissed, attempting to pry him off.

"Ah!?" He jumped back, "What do you think you're doing!? Getting between me and my Maka? And what do you mean by grandpa?" He waved a pointed finger at him furiously as he continued his crazed rant.

Maka looked at Soul with surprise that he would just so calmly stand up to her dad, the strongest Death scythe. But then she remembered its her dad... and he's a moron.. Her expression turned dark the more she thought about it...

Death Scythe only stopped his ranting when Lord Death Shinigami-chopped his head, leaving him in a crumpled heap on the ground, blood spurting from his head in a rather comical fashion. "I'm trying to have a serious conversation here." Lord Death said at the unconscious heap that was Maka's father, although his statement was contradicted by his comical appearance.

Maka rubbed her forehead, sighing with exasperation and Soul looked to her, "You deal with this every day?" He asked, disbelieving.

Maka shook her head. "I really don't know how I do it... I'm planning on moving out as soon as I get a partner." She said to him.  
"Maka...! Don''t leave me!" Death Scythe sobbed on the ground. "Don't leave me like mama, Makaaaaaa-!" He was cut short by another Shinigami-chop.

"Jeez Spirit-kun, keep it down. As I was saying..." Lord Death said, looking to the two. "Seeing how Maka requested your enrolment, and you're both lacking partners, why not you two become partners?" He suggested, clapping his hands together.

Soul looked back to Maka, "How bout it?" He grinned with his pointed teeth, giving her a thumbs up slightly.

Maka looked thoughtful, then saw her father looking up at her, pathetically sobbing. Her face shadowed and she looked to Lord Death. "Sounds good."


	5. Chapter 5: The Greatest Star

**The Music of Our Hearts: Chapter 5:**

"Hm..." Maka held a finger to her lip as she thought, looking over the mission board. "It should be something easy... Good for new partners..." She murmured.

Soul nodded in agreement, looking over the board that was covered in messaged that had been pinned up. A fair number of them had a sash on them, reading; "Working on." These missions were of course, already taken. Some were as simple as, get rid of troublesome members of the Mafia without killing them, to high contamination of Kishin eggs.

Kishin eggs were of course, the souls of those who could potentially become a Kishin, the demon like being created from the consumption of human souls. Weapons such as Soul, fed off Kishin eggs to become stronger however if he were to eat a human soul, then he would soon become like the monstrous beings.

Maka pointed at one of the plaques. "This one? It's easy ranking and seems simple enough. We just have to get rid of a pack of wolves that's been terrorising a village." She said, "They have Kishin potential." She added.

Soul nodded, looking at the sign. "Sounds good."

 **One week earlier:**

Maka and Soul stood in front of Lord Death in Death Room, hearing out what he had to say to them. He had just called them from their home room class to have a word about their progression over the past two weeks of their time at Shibusen.

"So," He started, clapping his oversized hands together, "I've called you up here because I wanted to remind you that you haven't actually successfully turned Soul into a scythe yet." He said, "I think that the best course of action would be for you to do a hands on mission and try to...'Learn on the job' as it were..."

Maka nodded, seeming to understand the tactic that he was proposing however Soul was dubious, "Learn on the job? What if we get killed?" He asked, not fully sure if he was capable to do such a thing and further risk his own life, as well as Maka's.

Lord Death appeared to be thinking, tapping his mask with a finger to further justify that, "Mm... I could send someone to assist you. They're also new students however their progression in strength has been... swift and they show potential."

"Only potential?" Soul asked, frowning. "What happens if they're worse than us?"

"Well, they have mastered basic weapon transformation the only problem being... The Meister is a bit of a... loose cannon. But, I'm sure Maka-chan won't find it too difficult to maintain when she has to deal with Spirit-kun on a near daily basis.

"As long as he isn't a pervert like Papa..." She muttered in reply to that.

Maka removed the plaque of the mission that they chose, "This one is the one." She said, starting to walk to get it registered.

Soul nodded, begging to walk with her, hands behind his head. "Hey, who do you think our partner's gonna be?" He asked as they walked down the corridor, stopping at a window in the wall with a rather pudgy lady who registered them.

Maka looked up in thought, trying to be optomistic, "To be honest, I don't know... Someone who is new... and potentially strong..." She shook her head, giving up on that. "I don't know. I try to be familiar with my classmates but..."

Soul shrugged, not too bothered by the lack of outcome. "Oh well, guess we'll find out, huh?"

After the two were registered and had everything set up, they exited the school, walking out to the main courtyard that was situated at the top of the grand staircase. The brightness from the sunlight was almost blinding for a brief moment after spending so long inside, and only two dark figures were all that could be seen in that moment.

"That must be them..." Maka said, squinting with a hand over her eyes as she tried to adjust to the bright light, trying to discern the shapes.

"Yahoo!" The shorter of the two figures called out at the top of his voice, "This view never gets old!" He laughed loudly, hands on his hips in a triumphant sort of manner as the two figures looked over the city. "But of course, it will never be as great as I am!"

The tall girl beside him nodded, holding her hands neatly in front of her, "Yeah..." She seemed a little awkward about his claims but just seemed to go with it rather than burst his bubble.

Maka walked over, Soul following at a more leisurely pace, taking his time. "Hello, are you...?" She looked at a piece of paper that she produced from her pocket, "Black.. Star... and Tsubaki?"

The two turned to them, the girl smiling sweetly and the boy grinning ear to ear, estactic that she knew his name.

"Yes, I'm Tsubaki." The girl said with a slight, respectful bow. Her long black hair was tied back in a long, thin ponytail that went to the back of her knees. "And this is-" She started however the boy cut her off.

"The great, Black Star!" He shouted as dramatically as one could ever achieve. His blue hair was spiked in a variety of angles, making jagged shapes. "You want my autograph of course?" He grinned and laughed as if he told the world's funniest joke.

"Uh... no." Maka said, furrowing her brows. _Maybe this guy is worse than Papa..._

Tsubaki frowned slightly,"These are our training partner's silly..." She murmured quietly as if for fear she'd upset him, or anyone else.

"Oh yeah!" He laughed as if he had forgotten this detail leaving Maka and Soul to stare with dumbfounded expressions as he continued to laugh.

"Great..."


	6. Chapter 6: The First Mission

**The Music of Our Hearts: Chapter Six:**

"Yahoo!" Black Star yelled at the very top of his voice, making a variety of forest creatures scuttle away in fear through the undergrowth as they fled the boisterous group.

"Black Star... You gotta be quiet.." Maka murmured, feeling her energy draining at a swift rate. "You'll bring the wolves right to us and we haven't even had any practice... Or even come up with a plan."

"Don't worry about it Maka!" Black Star laughed. "They'll run away in fear when they realise who it is who's comin for them." He grinned, poking his chest with his thumb, not worried in the slightest by the possibility of danger.

"I think that Maka-chan has a point..." Tsubaki murmured quietly, keeping her voice and her opinions quiet. It was hard to believe that these two got along, very loud and very quiet. What one lacked, the other made up for it.

"I think we should do some quick training... Get the basics.." She said as she stopped walking, the others stopping with her. "Tsubaki, do you have any tips for when transforming that you could give to Soul...?"

"Hm..." She thought for a moment, "Have you ever made a full transformation?" She asked, looking to Soul who shook his head.  
"No... I haven't been able to do that just yet." He said, almost a little awkward about that... The most he had been able to achieve was his arm turning into the red and black blade of the scythe.

Tsubaki nodded a little, "I see.. well... I'll give you a tip... Try and imagine the weapon in your mind, think about what it looks like... What its made of and you'll be able to turn rather easily." She explained, "The rest comes naturally."

Soul nodded and looked to Maka, "Do you think you're ready?" He asked, just wanting to make sure that she didn't drop him...

She nodded in relpy, "I think so... Is there anything special I have to do Black Star?" She asked, looking to him who grinned.

"Yes! Theres one thing. Its the most important thing of being a Meister!" He said, turning very serious, "The one thing, that you cannot fail to do when your partner transforms... Is strike an awesome pose!" He said, grinning as he pointed upward with a hand, imitating his pose for when Tsubaki changes. "Something like this." He said, grinning, eyes closed. 'Doesn't it show off how great I am?" He asked, glancing to Maka who stared at him, unable to believe that she thought he was being serious there for a moment.

"I'm not sure that's a necessity.." Tsubaki murmured but Black Star simply waved her off.

"Its the most important thing to being a star." He said, apparently done with the matter.

"I want to be a Meister not a star.." Maka mumbled before looking to Soul, "Okay... So, wanna try transforming?" She asked, holding out her hands, palms upward.

Soul nodded, closing his eyes. He hoped she'd be patient as he doubted this would work... He imagined a scythe... trying to make it as vivid as possible. He remembered the colour, the texture, the reflection it made... He felt a tingle run down his spine and an odd feeling came over him. It felt like he was floating in a vast space... Not water, but just a vast void of emptiness and in a way it was calming...

He opened his eyes to see the emptiness and jumped in surprise at the fact he could see himself, however he was lacking in the clothes department. He looked around in embarrassment quickly but no one was around to see him. He however could see them through an opening in the void that showed him the outside world.

"Woah, Soul, you did it." Maka said, grinning happily as she held the large scythe in her hands. "You're a little heavy though..." She said, giving a wry chuckle.

"Huh? I did it?" He asked. This feeling was so... inhuman. He could feel Maka holding him however it wasn't as if she were holding any part of his body, more of an extension to his body. "This is cool." He said with a laugh, the act of transforming making him feel rather giddy.

Maka giggled lightly, seeing his face and torso as if it were a reflection within the blade. "It is cool."

Black Star grinned, "Lookin good. But you can't compare to the best weapon ever." He said, holding out his hands. "Tsubaki. Transform."

Tsubaki smiled and nodded, "Right." She turned into a length of light, forming into Black Star's open hands. The light disappeared and revealed a chain scythe. Two small hand scythe's connected by a length of chain.

Both Maka and Soul let out impressed sounds at seeing her form. "Woah, that's really cool..." He said. He wasn't sure if he could handle being a chain scythe, thrown around like that... It would probably make him sick.

"Yeah, she has other forms too." Black Star said impressively. "But, it wouldn't be as great if we didn't show you in a fight." He said, grinning ear to ear. "Leave a bit of a surprise." He laughed.

Maka nodded, "Right. We should probably find those wolves though..." She said, looking over her shoulder and around, holding Soul horizontally with both hands. She really hoped that she would be able to wield him effortlessly. She had read in her studies that by strengthening her soul wavelength with her partner, that wielding them would become much easier... She hoped this was true...

"So where do you think we'll find these wolves?" Soul asked, looking up to Maka.

"Uh... I think they found us..." Maka said, nodding over to the trees behind Black Star as dark shadowed figures began to prowl out of the darkness, letting out low growls.

"Ah... Let the fun begin." Black Star grinned more menacingly than usual as he turned to the wolves, readying Tsubaki. "Ready?"

Maka nodded, "Yeah."


	7. Chapter 7

**The Music of Our Hearts: Chapter Seven:**

The wolves prowled closer, low to the ground as they snarled menacingly, edging nearer and nearer. Their black fur was matted and torn off in places and black saliva dripped from their snarling mouths and teeth. At a quick count there were six of them emerging from the forest and shrubbery.

Black Star turned to see them, "Huh? They must be pretty brave to come after me, especially after hearing how great I am." He grinned, taking up a fighting stance.

Maka huffed, "It was probably your yelling what brought them here..." She muttered, taking up a fighting stance as well. She knew her way around a scythe thankfully. While Soul hadn't been able to fully change until now, Maka had been practising with a practice weapon so that she could get the hang of it, and she thought she was doing good until she picked up Soul. It was nothing like how she practised. He was heavier, more solid built, and the feeling of his soul was something to get used to... It would take some time before she could perfectly match their soul wavelengths and she tried not to worry about it now.

Maka looked to Black Star and Tsubaki, his chain scythe. She wondered how well they had linked their souls... She wasn't entirely perfect at soul detection just yet so she wasn't going to waste any more time trying to do it. She stepped over to Black Star, "So... you want to take those three... I'll take these ones...?" She asked, watching as the wolves split into two groups, circling around them, forcing the Meister's to keep their stance back to back.

Black Star laughed, "Sure, if you want but if it gets too much, I'll take four and you can have the rest." He grinned.

"Whatever..." Maka watched the wolves, waiting for one to make a move. She knew if she moved first, the other two would grab her... She hoped that Black Star was smart enough to realise this.

She glanced to him and nearly died to find that he jumped straight in.

"Yahoo!" He laughed as he slashed one of the wolves with his blade, spinning to catch another in the snout as it tried to jump in to bite him. It fell back howling but quickly got back up.

Maka swiftly spun to see the three wolves that she had just as one attempted to jump her as she was distracted.

Maka reacted quickly and jammed the butt of the scythe's shaft up into the wolves gut. In one swift motion she spun the scythe sending the wolf flying into a tree and slashed another wolves with the blade as it tried to get closer.

She glanced to see that the wolf had gotten up after splintering the tree. These things were tough... They weren't natural for sure.

The next wolf pounced at her and once again she fended it off, hitting it with the shaft of the scythe. Thankfully Soul was durable. She took a quick moment to glance and check on how Black Star was holding up and he seemed to be doing just fine other than the fact that he was more interested in showing off than actually taking out the wolves. He managed to jump over them, land in trees, taunt them, and generally mess around but at least he was keeping them distracted and she couldn't help but wonder how he and Tsubaki got any missions done..

"Maka, watch out!" Soul shouted from within the blade of the scythe, making Maka spin back to see as a wolf pounced on her. She landed hard on her back, letting out a grunt as she felt the wind get knocked out of her and only glimpsed as Soul was knocked out of her grip and slid across the floor. She didn't even have a chance to get up as the wolf had pinned her, attempting to bite her. Its jaws were only inches away from her face, splattering her with the black saliva as she held it back as much as she could with her hands on its chest.

"Maka!" Soul shouted, transforming back into his human form to come to her aid.

Maka cursed under her breath, feeling her arms wouldn't hold out much longer against this ridiculously strong beast. She found she didn't have to fend it off much longer as it soon flew straight off her and into a moss covered boulder.

In surprise and shock, Maka looked up to see Black Star, standing there, an expression of rage on his face. He put his foot down which he had used to kick it off of her. "I'm going to kill you all." He muttered, apparently now more serious towards their dilemma. He stepped over Maka, going to the wolves. "Come on! Fight me!" He taunted, getting all of the wolves attentions. The one wolf that he had kicked didn't appear to be getting up any time soon...

Maka looked over as Soul rushed to her side, "Are you okay Maka?" He checked her over frantically and relaxed when she nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine... At least his timing is good.." She joked wryly, wiping her face from the black goo. "Come on... We should help him..." She murmured, getting to her feet with the help of Soul. She could feel her legs were trembling, still pumping with adrenaline. She looked over to see Black Star taking on the five wolves at once. When he wanted to fight, he could utilise Tsubaki incredibly well.

"Step back!" He shouted, "Tsubaki! Smoke bomb mode!" He shouted.

Hearing that was all Maka and Soul needed to take a good number of steps back.

Tsubaki's weapon form began to glow as she transformed, turning into a black bomb which Black Star threw at the ground, releasing a large plume of hazy smoke that washed through the area.

Both Maka and Soul covered their mouths and faces, shielding themselves from the smoke. From here they couldn't see what Black Star was doing but all they could hear was the wolves yowling and whimper as he effectively beat them up. The two exchanged a worried glance.

The two jumped and moved into a fighting position as something emerged from the smoke, however they relaxed to find that it was just Black Star grinning and laughing as he dusted off his hands. "Told you it wouldn't be hard."

Tsubaki followed after him as the smoke dispersed, she smiled a bit and nodded. "Mm."

Maka blinked, watching him. "Woah... You're tough..." She murmured.

Soul nodded, and leaned to look behind him, seeing the wolves lying on the ground. "What are they doing...?" He asked, pointing a bit to the corpses which began to fizzle into black smoke, disappearing. "Don't Kishin leave behind a Kishin soul...?" He asked, glancing to Maka.

"Yeah..." She frowned a bit, walking over. "Did you eat them already Tsubaki...?" She asked. They technically did do all the work... But it would've been very greedy for her to have taken all of them.

"Huh?" Tsubaki looked to Maka, "No, they didn't have any..." She murmured, hands behind her back. "They didn't have any soul I don't think... At least not one that stayed around..."

Maka frowned, looking back to the wolf at her foot as it disappeared finally.

 _Meanwhile..._

"Hm..." Lord Death made a thoughtful sound as he watched the four students; Maka looking around at where the wolves were while Black Star stretched, still grinning and acting as if that were only a workout. "They have lots to learn... But they show lots of potential..." He murmured.

"Well, my Maka is going to be the best student there ever was." Spirit grinning as he watched Maka. "I can't believe you wouldn't let me help here when she was in danger." He hissed at Lord Death.

"There wasn't enough time." He said simply, trying to keep from pointing out how stupid and impulsive he was. "Besides, they have to learn how to help each other."

"Right... You didn't have to hit me though..." He muttered, rubbing his head and pouting like a child.

"But it's strange..." Lord Death murmured, watching the last of the wolves vanish. "No souls were left behind... Maybe... Maybe there's something else at work here..." He murmured, staring intensely at the mirror that displayed the forest as if it were a television. His words and his actions got the attention of Spirit.

"You think someone was controlling them...?" He asked, glancing to the screen, far more serious now.

Lord Death merely nodded, "We'll soon see, I'm sure..."


End file.
